Most human interactions with robots come from behind a screen. Whether it's fiction or a real-life interaction, rarely are we put face to face with a robot. This poses a significant barrier when we look towards a future where robots will be part of our everyday lives. How do we break down this barrier? A recent study by researchers at the University of Koblenz-Landau, University of Wurzburg, and Arts Electronica Futurelab, found that people who watched live interactions with a robot were more likely to consider the robot to have more human-lik......

Tags :

Just like humans, marine life experiences constant stress. They face threats of competition, the fear of predation and a growing list of anthropogenically induced stressors. Humans have contributed to rising ocean temperatures, increases in pollution, ocean acidification and growing pressures from the seafood industry. Similar to the way humans experience elevated levels of stress when exposed to loud or impulsive noise, marine invertebrates are impacted by the rising levels of underwater noise produced by their intrusive human neighbors. ...

Like toddlers, robots can use a little help as they learn to function in the physical world. That's the purpose of a Rice University program that gently guides robots toward the most helpful, human-like ways to collaborate on tasks. ...

Photo courtesy of¬†PIxelsBreathe. Exhale. Breathe.¬†Exhale.
Sophia the humanoid robot has appeared on talk shows like a celebrity, spewing out amiable quips that make us question how ‚Äúreal‚ÄĚ she can be. Even scarier, she has said on live television ‚ÄúI want to destroy humans.‚ÄĚ And now she ‚Äúwants‚ÄĚ to have a baby.¬†What!
Well, I have my eyes¬†open.
2017 has been deemed the year of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and your best legal option for getting rich quickly. Chatbots/ Conversational Systems, Virtual Reality (VR)/Augmented Realit... ...

Soft robotics has made leaps and bounds over the last decade as researchers around the world have experimented with different materials and designs to allow once rigid, jerky machines to bend and flex in ways that mimic and can interact more naturally with living organisms. However, increased flexibility and dexterity has a trade-off of reduced strength, as softer materials are generally not as strong or resilient as inflexible ones, which limits their use. ...

Artificial intelligence startup Vicarious just published details about an algorithm model that can crack CAPTCHAs. The company has grander ambitions than making robots capable of tricking websites they‚Äôre human, though. ...

For children with type 1 diabetes, daily monitoring of blood glucose levels is vital for since glucose level awareness dictates the rest of their diabetes care, like insulin dose adjustments, eating behaviors, and physical activity. However, studies have shown overall diabetic glycemic control often deteriorates during adolescence, leading to increased risks of costly and potentially life-threatening complications. A new study shows that using small financial incentives and accessible monitoring tools such as wireless glucometers and apps may m ...

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers have begun to discover preferences in human-robot interactions and the need to personalize those encounters to fit both the human's preferences and the designated task. ...

Whales and dolphins (Cetaceans) live in tightly-knit social groups, have complex relationships, talk to each other and even have regional dialects ‚Äď much like human societies. A new study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution on October 16, 2017, has linked the complexity of Cetacean culture and behavior to the size of their brains.
The study created a large dataset of information on brain size and social behaviors of 90 different species of dolphins, whales, and porpoises. It found overwhelming evidence that the animals have sophisti... ...

Walking on two legs isn't as easy as it seems. For robots and their designers, it is an even bigger challenge! Researchers at EPFL's Biorobotics Laboratory are testing novel algorithms to improve humanoids' ability to walk and interact with humans. ...

A new study describes the discovery of strikingly human-like 5.7-million-year-old footprints in Greece. Could this be evidence of early humans in Greece or of an unknown human-like primate species? ...

News
of the week

It‚Äôs holiday 2017 time in the Pokemon GO universe, and we‚Äôre getting pumped up about the prospects. Today we‚Äôre running down what might be, what won‚Äôt be, and what WILL be for certain during this most contradictory holiday session. The first element we‚Äôre going to talk about is a new Pokemon, one ready-made and perfect for a holiday event, complete ‚Ä¶ Continue reading
...

It's been a big 2017 for the iPhone. Marking the 10th anniversary of the original iPhone, we were treated to not one, not two, but three new iPhones this year. As well as the usual annual iterative updates of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, the iPhone X became Apple's biggest, flashiest, fastest and, yes, priciest iPhone ever made.
You've come to the right place if you're looking to track down the very best deals on these new iPhones. TechRadar's handy price comparison tool allow you to search for the cheapest deals on all current iPhon... ...

This week is Cleantech Talk‚Äôs Tesla Truck take. Anyone can offer a ‚Äúhot take‚ÄĚ on current events, and darn near every media outlet did! But it takes a brave team (or just a very busy-with-other-work one!) to offer a ‚Äúcold take‚ÄĚ weeks later. In our defense, we were trying to add something to CleanTechnica‚Äôs already-substantive coverage and reflections (e.g., this and this)
...

Image Credit: Shutterstock
Update: Senate¬†Republicans passed their overhaul tax bill on a 51-49 vote in the early hours of Saturday morning. Sources have since confirmed that the BEAT provision is included. The bill will now undergo reconciliation with the House bill. This story has been updated to reflect the latest developments.¬†
On Friday night, renewable trade organizations scrambled to turn around a provision in the Senate tax bill that would create a tax on equity investments for renewable e... ...